Meghan spent the rest of the morning Thursday working on a respiratory emergency lesson plan for the staff meeting. Fred took her to lunch, and then she started work on the PowerPoint. As she worked, she kept thinking back to Wednesday’s phone call with Rick.

Rick had Friday afternoon free, and wanted to take her for a nice dinner that evening. Meghan reached up and touched her hair. I wonder if Aaron’s wife, Janine, could fit me in between now and dinner tomorrow? Otherwise, I need to find somewhere I can get this mess looking a little better. She pulled out her purse and dug for the card Janine had given her. Finding it, she pulled out her phone and dialed the number.

Meghan was in luck – Janine had an opening Friday afternoon. Meghan made the appointment, thanked her, and hung up the phone.

Fred stuck his head in the office. “Hey – got a sec to cover the class? I need to go use the bathroom before those nachos do my guts in.”

Meghan laughed. “I warned you about that hot salsa.” She stood up and made shooing motions. Fred split, and Meghan entered the classroom. When Fred returned 10 minutes later, she was fielding questions about her recent absence and her voice.

He chuckled. “Playing 20 questions?”

She smiled. “But of course. Gonna make it?”

He nodded. “Yeah, thanks.”

A knock on the door interrupted them. The door opened, and Brad from the Fire School poked his head in. “Fred, when you get a sec… Meghan! Never mind, Fred. Meghan, got a free minute?”

“Of course!” She excused herself and motioned to her office. They entered and shut the door behind them. “What’s up, Brad?”

He winced at her voice. “I was going to bug Fred for an update on you,” he explained. “How are you doing? We all heard about what happened.”

“I’m doing okay, healing up well. The voice sounds horrible, and I’m on oxygen for the foreseeable future, but I’m doing okay. Should be coming back to teach next week.”

“Next week, and yet you’re here today?” He snorted. “You have more dedication than I do.”

She laughed. “What can I say? I’m bored. No, I’m just using my office while I work on lesson plans for the staff meeting in a couple weeks.”

Brad thought for a minute. “Could I ask you a favor?”

“Um, sure. What do you need?”

“Would you be willing to come to my class and talk about what happened at the fire scene, and what happened to you? Totally voluntary, and I fully understand if you wouldn’t want to.”

Meghan thought about it for a moment. She finally nodded. “Yeah, I can do that and field some questions for a little while.” She thought for another moment. “I’m teaching a class on burns next Tuesday or Thursday. Your class is welcome to join us – I just need to know which day works better for you.”

Brad smiled. “That sounds great, actually. I’ll double-check my lesson plans, but Tuesday would probably be the better day of the two.”

Meghan agreed. “When would you like me to speak to your class? I’ve got time tomorrow, or Monday or Friday. I’ve got doctor appointments regarding the burns and my lungs on Wednesday, so that’s out.”

“Would you come tomorrow? Probably sometime around 10 would be great.”

“Sure.”

“I really appreciate it, Meghan. We can talk about fire scene safety until we’re blue in the face, but talking to those who have faced the dangers firsthand – and yes, even gotten hurt – seems to get the point across a lot better.”

She snorted. “Ah. A case of “do as I say, not as I do”, ha!” She sighed. “It’s a lot better than dealing with overboard hero worship.”

“Oh, there’s plenty of that already, just to warn you. And not just because of your recent incident. This is the same bunch from that big incident at the burn tower. Fortunately, we get to kick them loose at the end of the semester.” Brad chuckled.

“Think they’re ready?” she asked.

He nodded. “They’re definitely green and wet behind the ears, but I think they will do well. A few may be headed your way to continue in to EMS classes.”

She groaned. “You’re gonna sic your kids on me? And here I thought you were my friend!”

They both laughed. Meghan started coughing, and the fit lasted a good minute or two.

“Are you okay?” Brad asked, concerned.

“Choked on my own spit,” she said around coughs, as the coughing fit died down. “I’m talented that way.”

Brad stood. “Well, I’d best let you get back to lesson plans. Tomorrow around 10?”

Meghan nodded. “I’ll see you then!”

Meghan worked for another hour before calling it quits for the day – the thought of telling the Fire Academy cadets about the incident kept her distracted. She waved goodbye to Fred as she left, not wanting to interrupt his lecturing, and headed to her car.

Just as she was arriving home, her phone rang. She looked at the screen, and was happy to see it was Rick calling her.

“Hi there!” she answered, jumbling her keys to find the one for her front door.

Hey there, Meghan. How’s my favorite girl today?

Key fitted in the door, she unlocked it and entered her apartment. She tossed her backpack onto the couch and headed for the bedroom. “Doing well. Just got home from a day at the college.” She could hear chuckling on the other end.

I thought you weren’t supposed to return to work until next week?

“I wasn’t there in an official capacity. I worked in the office on lesson plans for the upcoming staff meeting.” She started rummaging through her closet for clothes for Friday.

What are you teaching on? Rick asked.

“Respiratory emergencies, and advanced airway practice,” Meghan replied. She pulled out a pair of EMS pants and laid them on the bed. She moved to her dresser to rummage through t-shirts. “Combitubes, LMA airways, and intubations.”

Sounds like you’ve gotten a lot done.

“I’ve gotten the lesson plans done, and about half of the PowerPoint presentation is done. Still have handouts to round up and print off. I may save that for next week, though.” She finally decided on a red Guns vs. Hoses shirt from last year’s baseball game. “How is work going today?”

Not bad. I’m on the pager, but it’s just been clinic and rounds so far today. Say, I wanted to let you know that I got us reservations for Maggiano’s Italiano tomorrow at 6:30. I wanted to celebrate your getting out of the hospital with dinner someplace nice, he explained.

“Oh, that sounds good! I’ve been craving Italian. I may even let you get me dessert,” she said, heading back to her closet to look at options. She heard a pager beep, and Rick sighing.

Sorry, sweetheart. I gotta answer this – it’s the ER.

“No worries,” she assured him. “Go take care of patients. I’ll talk with you later.”

Rick hung up, and Meghan stood in front of her closet. Maggiano’s wasn’t a casual attire kind of place. Rick had taken her there twice, and she knew that it wasn’t unusual to see men in suits and women in fancier dresses. She finally decided on a pale pink sweater, a black skirt with giant pink flowers, and black kitten heel pumps.

Clothing decisions made, she tried to settle down with her knitting, but that wasn’t working to keep her mind from racing through how to approach speaking to the Fire cadets in the morning. Sighing, she set aside her knitting and pulled up her laptop and got to work on a lesson plan.